July 23, 2012

Confessions of an Exercise DVD junkie..

Today there was a box sitting at the front door as I arrived home from my half-day gig as an ESY Speech Therapist; I broke into a huge smile because according to Amazon, today is the big day!

What is in that box you might ask? A new toy? books?

Nope!

New exercise DVDs!

Yes, I admit it, I have become an exercise DVD junkie. It started with the two I shared with you last blog post (Weight Watchers "Punch" and "Belly, Butt and Thighs") and has moved on from there. Cardio, Kickboking, Circuit Training, 10 Minute Solutions, you name it, I have probably sweated to it! I think I currently own over 20 videos (and I am always on the hunt for something new).

Forget browsing books at Barnes and Noble; during our last visit I found myself heading past the books to the video/DVD section.. and I emerged with a new to me Tae Bo DVD.. love that Billy Blanks!

I am not sure what it is, but I have a growing affinity for spandex clad people sweating it out in faux studios.. encouraging me to "work harder", "dig deeper" and "don't forget to breath". I recently got this one - circa 2005 (or thereabouts)...

Janis Saffel leads the workout on two of these DVDs, complete with distracting BRIGHT RED full length boot cut, rhinestone clad spandex pants.. made me laugh... so did the workout - the choreography was crazy... I kept tripping over my own feet! I definitely discovered that I prefer more predictable, repetitive patterns! Check out those pants!

The other two DVDs feature Janis with this guy - Guillermo Gomez -

He looks frighteningly like Ben Stiller's character in Dodgeball and is pretty hard to take seriously... lol.. don't you see the resemblence?

I really have found that I prefer working out in the comfort of my own home. No stress, no gym trophies (you know, the women who are toned and tanned and really there to see and be seen) making me feel inferior, no schedules, no babysitter - easy.. I can work out when I want to, where I want to and still push "pause" when one of my monsters demands a meal or snack.

Word to the wise. This is NOT a beginner workout! The workout starts out with a 5 minute workout and then moves onto 5 5- movement circuits which include lunges, dead lifts, planks, push-ups and something Jillian called surrenders -which just about killed me.

No lying, I had to stop several times. I was burning, I was aching... I might have been dying - and tomorrow I will pay with sore muscles.

If your not ready for that, I would highly recommend two of my earlier acquisitions - The Biggest Loser workouts - "Cardio Max" and "Calorie Knockout". Two very manageable workouts which allow you to start out easy and add workout segments and time to the program as you are comfortable. I think the first segment - Warm-up and Circuit #1 is 20 minutes in length.... easy! At the beginning of my weight loss journey I took these workouts on soccer weekend trips and did them in the hotel.

Right now, I am really enjoying kickboxing style workouts. I still love my WW "Punch" workout, although I have really begun to love all the Tae Bo/Billy Blanks videos... they leave me drenched in sweat and feeling like I worked hard. Best part, the Tae Bo choreography doesn't require a lot of space (your not moving all over the place - and I don't know about you, but I don't have my own exercise studio so I have to share my space with the couch, fish tank, coffee table and chair!). These are in heavy rotation right now:

Looking for your own preferred style of workout DVDs - You can search a ton of videos on Collage Video. They even have video clips of most of them; you can search my genre, instructor or any number of other parameters. Best of luck choosing your workout and getting started!